Darroch's eye sparked as she introduced herself, mentally rolling the name through his mind. It was certainly one he had never heard before.

"Tricks are just falsehoods of illusion used by those that can't actually perform," he said absently, smirking as some of the grass around her hooves shot up to flick at her wings. She was giving every invitation to play and he wasn't about to pass that up.

He still had to reach for that connection, to attempt to activate the sensation of being tied into the ground itself - he knew that he wouldn't need to, eventually, and that his reflexes in his elemental work would become as second-nature as jumping when someone came out of a bush and shouted in his face. He wasn't worried about it in the least, but he knew it would come to pass. Eventually. For now he sent a mental probe towards the ground, reveling in the sensation of having his grassy 'bodies' growing and stretching exponentially.

"Nice to meet everyone," he added.

With a blink he turned towards the oak again and tilted his head, sudden inspiration striking him and making him forget about Ovela for the moment. He gave no thought of any offense given to her as the grass suddenly shrank back to its normal size, his wings twitching slightly in concentration as the tree let go of the grip its roots held on the ground and literally stood on top of the earth. If he could influence the ground itself without the roots, maybe he could influence the plants without the ground - or, it seemed he could, no maybe about it.

He made the tree dance a little jig as a grin broke over his muzzle, ears flitting around in his enjoyment. He was already sweating again, quite heavily, though he was either ignoring it or unaware as he made the great oak bend over and pluck a flower from the ground, placing it near Ovela's flaming mane. He half expected it to catch fire or something similar.

A blink later it had moved over and tugged at Frolic's extravagant tail before skipping back to settle into the ground once again, looking as if it hadn't moved a single leaf.

Darroch blinked a few times, suddenly dizzy, and shook his head hard. He would have to explore this more later on...

Frolic jumped as her tail was tugged, the bitter-sweet smile on her face fading into a squealing nicker. Hybrid tilted an ear towards her, the equivalent of a raised brow. Up until then he had let her handle the talking.

"Ours?" she had laughed, flexing her powerful back legs and snipping at the grass. "Not exactly, no, that is he's neither of our foal. But he is with us! It's great to meet everyone, I think I have all the names down. Would you like me to introduce you guys to Gem and Rein, or would ya rather speak for yourselves? We can see how well I remember things!"

She had been smiling at Avalanche when her tail was yanked, vaguely observing how handsome everyone around her appeared to be and feeling slightly plain with her simple pattern of stripes. The distracting thoughts were swiftly put to an end with the pain in her rump. As her hooves landed once again she spun around and glared at the tree, kicking a loose stone after one of the roots. "You meanie!"

Snorting, she sulked a moment and then turned back to the others, tossing a glance at Hybrid to see she was still being ignored. She frowned and opened her mouth, continuing with her previous train of thought.

"Anyway it's great to find company out here. We just deci-"

Her face went blank a moment and her body shuddered almost imperceptibly, eyes rolling back for a moment in confused fear. Then she settled, her head lowering and her tail hanging down to fall over her spikes. She jumped as she looked around to see everyone gathered around, snorting uncertainly.

"Uhm... Hi."

She tossed a glance to Darroch, as if making sure he was still there, but there was something more to the look. The happy foal, the developing foal, the colt that was perfectly fine having never met his father. Envy, pain, a touch of anger, they all stormed in her eyes for the briefest of moments.

"You can go," Hybrid said, his eyes flashing like lightning as he looked at the suddenly timid and broken mare next to him. "Make sure he isn't ripping apart the landscape too much. We don't need another accident."

Frolic glared at him, part of her angry with him for reasons she couldn't understand, but she took the chance he offered all the same. She didn't approach the two young ones but slipped off to the side, pretending to examine a random patch of grass. It wasn't anywhere close to the area Darroch had just discolored.

She stole a glance towards the others, however, curious and put out by finding herself surprised by them. The white one with blue markings caught her eye especially - she had thought she felt a chill aura emanating from him. It would have had Spin curious, she was certain... If he was around to notice such things.

She wasn't even sure why she was here. Shouldn't she be hidden away in her rain forest, where nobody could look at her... Well, like Hybrid had looked at her? Like someone to pity, that there was no hope for.

She thought she had had it explained to her once or twice, but she wasn't entirely sure of what she remembered. That she could only handle so much reality at one time, that she switched between allowing herself to face the pain and swim in it and trying to face reality and heal properly. But she knew it wasn't right, whatever it was, that this wasn't normal. Or they wouldn't look at her like they did.

Maybe it hadn't been explained to her - maybe it was all in her head, like everything else that was wrong.

Hybrid sighed a bit as she wandered off, quickly dismissing her and nodding towards Gem and Rein. "It's nice to see y'all out and about as well. Like Frolic was saying, we just decided to hang around and see what happened, who we happened to meet. This is my first time out in quite a while, personally. She tried once, not all that long ago, and then started to make a second attempt, but that fell through. So she wound up coming with me. Darroch is always willing to wander around to new places."

He kept his gaze on Fancy most of the time he spoke. Something about the way those swirling markings rippled over her hide intrigued him. But the gleaming wings kept making him think of Breeze. He knew his bondmate had a real attachment to mares with wings.

He also knew how that stallion would view it - a challenge, another of his games that tested his skill and abilities, seeing which of them would get the farthest with her, perhaps sharing her even. But Hybrid wasn't looking, and he didn't have an interest in such games. Breeze would - the stallion had to prove to himself that he could do it. It was his method for coping with having been abandoned.

Hybrid had already coped - he didn't need to scale cliffs between enjoying the peaceful sounds of wind chimes. And he couldn't let his bondmate continue to intrude on his thoughts in such a way.

Breeze would be fine.

Though not nearly as fine as this female before him. Fancy, she'd said her name was, and it suited her. Gods but she was fine.

He smirked at the thought and lightning laced up his tail without any conscious thought on his part. Maybe he wasn't searching for someone to call his own - or, in his case, many someones - but that didn't mean he couldn't appreciate the ladies.

Darroch was back in the stream by this point, letting the water splash down his neck and enjoying the sensation after the dizzying over-strain of making a tree walk. This was an interesting meeting so far, and it had only just begun.

"What's with your mane," he asked Ovela, flicking his tail after another long drink to let the water drip off. "It's not like anything I've seen before, and I live in the same realm as that scaled creature up there."

Frolic was still watching from the edge, eyes dim yet curious. She liked the bright mare's markings, as well as the bells on the antlered ones horns. The other trio were utterly unique as well, each of them drawing her eyes more than once. What was going on here?

Fancy twitched her tufted tail and kept in constant movement; a shift of weight here, a sidestep or prance, a sway. Her attention strayed to the young ones in the distance, surprising her nearly as much as it did her bond brothers. Both had flair and particular attitudes of their own... How nice to be beyond the social expectations, to overlook politeness and properness and just have fun! But wasn't that what she was doing now? She thought she'd overcome her need to put on a face and an act, but here she found herself falling into old habits.

Coal's ears perked forward in interest and mild surprise as the mare he'd been watching earlier seemed to snap out of her reverie. Perhaps he'd have to sidestep his usual strong-and-silent-type stance for once and be social. His eyes left her beautiful showy coat patterns on regular intervals, however, to check up on the elementals. Habit, he supposed. Neither the color show nor the lightning sparks seemed to be dying down as of yet.

Then the tree uprooted itself and moved! Coal snorted, but allowed no sidestep or other fidgety nonsense. Avalanche joined him in giving the spectacle their full attention until it was soundly back in place. Another look passed quickly between them. Elementals.

All were a bit startled at Frolic, not so much at the squeal and action that the tree's trick as at her sudden puzzlement. Fancy watched the silent communication between Frolic and Hybrid with interest, and she wasn't the only one. Coal watched with his usual seeming disapproval, though no judgement was he making. More disapproval of what he did not even begin to understand. Fancy was standing as though with raised and inquisitive brows, and Avalanche simply followed her retreating form with his eyes laced with concern. His puzzlement was probably plain, even to those outside of his bond-family; he longed to comfort though he never knew how.

Coal broke their group's silence. "So this... this.. sort of thing.." He raised his chin in the direction of the colt and the tree, gesturing for lack of an accurate description. "Happens a lot then?" His tone was tentatively unenthused, doubtful.

Fancy scoffed at him and resettled her wings, enjoying the attention. "Oh, relax." To the others, she explained unnecessarily, seemingly giving Coal a warning of the dire consequences: "You know, the lack of fun tends to turn a stallion into a dry old worrywart." She turned to look at the other two. "And I'm sorry; Gem and Rein, I think she said? I'm Fancy. This is-"

"I'm Coal." He interrupted with no apology. A stallion could introduce himself, for crying out loud... A nod to the stallion and mare, and Coal nudged his brother. The white stallion spared them a brief glance. "Avalanche, at your service." He gave a dip of a bow to the other two in a late introduction greeting, and before too long he was pondering the strangeness of Frolic once more.

And I don't know how To slow it down Oh, my mind's racing From chasing pirates.

Ovela nodded idly in agreement, chuckling aloud at the off-colour and blatant way in which he addressed his own obvious talent. Were all elementals this way? Rein tended to use his talents to perk up others. It was more for comedic enjoyment than anything else. Galaxy and Shimmer were more modest in that respect. Darroch seemed so different in comparison; it intrigued her.

She laughed brightly as the grass tickled her wings, and responded in kind by expertly tapping the persistent blades away with her wingtips. As he turned away and seemed to focus his attention again on his surroundings, she waited expectantly. She was the last filly who would take offense, as she rarely possessed any semblance of decorum herself.

The mare whooped in amusement as the tree danced about, and paused only long enough to pluck the flower from the tree’s clutches, laughing all the while. This is what she enjoyed- Rein usually was the provider of such things, but this foal seemed to enjoy putting on a show just as much. She paused for a moment, slightly concerned, as she noticed that Darroch was becoming increasingly soaked in his own sweat. No doubt he was overexerting himself...was that normal?

She followed him to the nearby stream, full of questions yet still concerned for his health. Rein had never looked quite so strained when he did such things, but then again he was a fully grown stallion after all. Maybe this was something that happened to all young elementals...

She took a deep drink of water as she thought. When the foal asked about her mane, she took another swig and squirted the mouthful of water in his general direction in response, grinning impishly. After a few moments of consideration, she offered a shrug, her eyes slightly downcast.

Apparently I resemble one of my parents, she said, quite indifferently. I’ve never met them, so I wouldn’t be able to tell you which one. Quick to change the subject, she fired her own question off in response.

Are you alright? she asked tentatively, suddenly shy. You seemed pretty exhausted after making that tree dance. Her timid behaviour lasted all of moments before her face lit up in another characteristic grin. That was brilliant! The way it pulled her tail, and the flower! Can both of your parents do similar things? she added, curiously.

For a moment, her attention was drawn to the bright green mare standing alone in the distance. Her face furrowed pensively as she noted the mare’s desolate expression.

Is she always like that? she asked abruptly, motioning to the mare with a wingtip.

Meanwhile, the other two Serians watched Frolic’s exit with varying expressions on their faces. Rein seemed mystified by the mare’s sudden disappearance, and Gem looked almost empathetic, sympathizing with the mare on some strange level that Rein could not comprehend. Perhaps it was merely based on the fact that they were both hurting, for varying reasons. He stepped closer to Gem, almost instinctively, as if to ward off the shadows and gloom that made up her most recent of moods.

Will she be alright? asked Gem quietly, a small frown marring her striking features. Rein glanced at her again, only this time a small smile tugged at the corners of the stallion’s muzzle. The mare had barely spoken two words to anyone in months unless otherwise forced to do so. Perhaps this outing had been a good idea after all.

As everyone fussed over the attention that the elementals, particularly young Darroch, had caused, Rein chuckled inwardly and resisted the urge to make it snow, or some such nonsense. He was, quite honestly, impressed by both the stallion and the young foal. They had a considerable amount of talent, and from one elemental to another he acknowledged their individual strengths.

Within moments, he was brought back into awareness by the other mare’s voice, and he grasped onto the thread of conversation with considerable ease. He smiled easily, and dipped his head again, politely.

Good to meet you Fancy, Coal and Avalanche, he said in response. He carefully noted the way that Gem’s eyes had flickered upwards, ever-so-slightly, as the first stallion had introduced himself. Hm.

Gem visibly gathered herself, a bit of her old spark entering her crystalline eyes once more as she spoke. Her voice was noticeably stronger, less hushed than before, yet still subtly guarded. Rein was worried that, despite her attempts to bolster her own spirits, that jaded look would never fully leave her.

If the foal is anything like our elementals and rogues, she began, with a meaningful look at Rein, then these things are a common occurrence indeed.

He watched Fancy shift about, subtly, allowing the pattern on her coat to ripple and shimmer in ways that were most entrancing. It was hard to mistake the fact that she had not only noticed his attentions, but seemed to be rather enjoying it. With a sharp smirk lining his muzzle, Hybrid flexed his long tail and instantly shifted his gaze.

She enjoys the spot light so much, let's see how she handles this.

He was toying with her, the spark in his personality brought into more obvious light as he went from looking her over appreciatively to focusing instead on everyone else, intrigued on how she would react and rather she would attempt to pursue this attention once again. She certainly wasn't putting on a show for the sake of Coal or Avalanche - but perhaps it was simply that she wanted this Rein fellow to notice her, as well.

It wouldn't surprise him. Rein was quite the striking figure and Hybrid was... Well, he was Hybrid. Lightning sparked from his nose with a snort, lacing up around his cheek and sizzling quietly. Yes, Hybrid was Hybrid, all right.

"With Darroch it's more a matter of learning, however," he admitted, addressing this Coal that had first asked. "Something will occur to him or strike his fancy and he'll simply give it a whirl at any random moment."

Even his voice was different. It was deep and never held a steady note, sizzling and scraping in a rather unpleasant way. All the same, he stood with his head high and reveled in the sensation of the waiting charge that he felt in the air. It was strongest during storms, but it was always there, regardless. The lightning balls that would roll across his homelands proved that, at least as far as he was concerned. Those were no sparks flying and stabbing, but a full charge within the storm gathered and compressed.

Speaking of flying sparks, he turned to check on Frolic as the three re-introduced themselves, frowning harshly in consideration. She hadn't fled back to her forested home. Did that mean she was willing to try, even in this state of mind, even if but for the moment? Yet she didn't seem to be trying, not actively at least... He wished she would. Not only for her sake, but because in spite of his appearance and the sparks that were known to randomly dance on his skin from time to time, he was not one to speak all that often and did not particularly enjoy a great deal of attention.

He knew he was awkward, and it didn't bother him. He just didn't want to have to put up with the way some looked at him - somewhat similar to the way Coal and Avalanche regarded him, whenever they spared him a glance. He was a proud creature and held no shame in himself, yet there was a deep rooted distaste for the many things the eyes of others could communicate.

With a flick of his ear the notion was dismissed. Wanting the mare to come steal the show wouldn't improve anything, and in any case he was curious about how his little game would be received. He made a note not to watch Fancy at all, not even peripherally for an reaction. His attentions were completely cut off from her. She was a fine specimen of serian, but he already knew what she looked like. All he was missing was whatever show she decided to put on.

"I'd say by that glare that you have some talent yourself, Rein," he noted, attempting to get the others to talk more with as little speech on his part as was possible. He liked to observe and do, to appreciate, much as he had been blatantly appreciating the mare Fancy. He wouldn't spend minutes at a time waxing how striking she was - action, instead, would be his method. He'd be the stallion to watch her little displays and then show her directly what he thought of them.

This was a fairly new experience, short of another outing where he had met Oak and Talon. He'd spoken more in that instance than he normally would have, but it had been great fun, in the end, as they had all settled into one of his favorite games. He'd made a great deal of progress with his bond-mate that had been with him at the time, and with his own issues, as well as working his body to regain some of his old strength.

At the moment, this was not such an outing. He was intrigued by these others and was blatantly enjoying his silent game with Fancy, his gaze wandering over her as she put on a display only to rip away his attentions an instant later. For him to toy with her in this manner, however, she had to have caught his attention in more ways than a mere display of her gracious hide.

Frolic had seen him glancing at her as she flicked her tail around the spikes on her legs, and frankly ignored him. A pouty-sulk of a thought flicked across her mind Let's see how he likes being ignored that confused her, making her toss her head in irritation. Where had that come from? What was going on here? And when had all these strangers arrived?!

It broke her heart, to feel her mind breaking. If only she could find her family... Surely, with the repair of those she so adored, she herself could get well. But she knew better, and she hated it. She could no more help them while so broken and injured than she could walk without legs.

But she wasn't healing!

Anger overwhelmed her, disgust, discouragement. She wasn't healing, if anything it was getting worse, with her mind splintering in such a way. The pain of loss was crushing her. Loss of her beautiful daughter, the disappearance of her son and their father, loss of bonded and circle-mates alike. She couldn't remember, literally couldn't, the last time she had seen anyone from within her circle. Sparkle saw those within his circle frequently, Path as well... Though Path knew what it was to lose touch with a beloved mate, she at least had her son.

But no, that wasn't fair. The colt seemed to make the golden mare's pain all the worse.

Frolic could relate to that.

She eyed the group again, the anger in her gaze fading into a pathetic look of helpless misery. She wanted to go over to them, to attempt to heal a little more, but she was afraid. What would happen when her mind shifted again? What did they think of her already, to stand to the side and watch with her head so low she may have been grazing, if only her muzzle touched the grass? Would they look at her like Hybrid had, as a hopeless creature to pity? Would they even understand the pained and worn look she had, the aged determination that drug her onward even still? Perhaps the bright mare there - she had a similar look in her eyes, a harsh jaded appearance - but it wasn't the golden mare with extravagant markings that truly caught her attention and made her want to try again at being social. There was a white stallion with a splendid coat and detached air... She felt something similar in him, from the way he held himself, the way his eyes looked, the distance he stood from the others that were nearest him.

Yet she didn't even know who was with who.

All the same, she caught herself regarding the stallions with more than mere idle curiosity. It had been so long since she saw Spin... And she could at the least remember that her new bonded had told her she would move on, after she was healed from the damage life had dealt her. She was sure that that, at the least, wasn't in her head.

She was far from ready to 'move on' in any sense, but she was beginning to understand what the strangeling had meant. There was the tentative beginnings of interest forming, distant though any real possibility was.

Frolic hated this indecision. Her head felt too full, overwhelming her, and she squeezed her eyes closed as if she were being physically attacked, her hide twitching randomly. With a shudder she tossed her head, twisting her neck to the side and stumbling forward a step.

And when she looked up, it was with a bright, if slightly pained, smile and a small note of confusion. How had she gotten over there?

Darroch was ignoring all of them, currently interested in this mare that waxed shy and eager. This filly that was next to him, in the water, now. He loved new experiences and she was most certainly new.

"Whichever one you resemble, they must be pretty fierce. You have a strong and strange beauty about you."

With a shrug he let it go, thinking nothing of his bold statement and stretching out on the dusty bottom of the stream to let his legs rest. The trick had taken more of his strength than he had first thought; it was an effort just to stand. It didn't worry him, it just was.

His mother would have told him that it wouldn't be so hard to do these things, later on, as he and his talent grew. But he didn't think of later on, so it simply didn't occur to him. All he was concerned with at the moment was that his legs were tired and that this filly was a new puzzle to figure out. He did enjoy puzzles.

"I'm fine. Thanks for asking, though. I get too involved in an idea for my talent, some times, and my body pays the price for trying something too extravagant. Or at least that's what I'm told."

He flashed her a grin, eyes sparking with impish playfulness as he made the stream twitch in front of her and splash water directly towards her face. The ground simply jumped up, shoving the water through the air and flopping back into place. A river otter chattered indignantly not far off, having been wandering down the stream when he decided to make it play, and he flicked an ear curiously. Wasn't that little creature a part of 'nature' as well? He didn't think of how it would effect him afterwards, how it would be 'later,' only jumped on the idea and made an effort to exert his will over the creature as well - to no avail. Apparently it was only the natural parts of nature, the plants and earth and other such things, that he could influence. But maybe it wasn't restricted to the ground. Looking up and glaring at the bright sun, he stretched his neck and smirked in satisfaction as a cloud materialized out of nowhere, instantly providing a comfortable overcast.

It took more effort to do new things, so a thin sheen of sweat coated his back once again. It was hard to discern the sweat from the wet coat the stream was giving him, but it was given away as his face glistened for a moment before he recovered.

That was enough for the moment. He was beginning to lose interest with puzzling over what 'nature' entailed and expanding his talents. What had snared his mind now was this Ovela. Fun, unique to look at, and seemed to have an interesting tale. Never met either of her parents? He'd never heard of that before.

"Thanks," he said, beaming at her compliment and giving her his most brilliant smile. "My mother says there's something special and unique about everyone, but it's just a bit more obvious with me. I'd have to say it's rather obvious with you, as well."

He ducked his head here, letting water trickle down his neck once again and enjoying the cooling sensation. It wasn't taking him nearly so long to recover whenever he over-exerted himself any more, not that he noticed. After a few more minutes, he'd be able to bounce around and make a nuisance of himself physically.

For the moment, however, he still doubted he had the strength for that.

"Not both my parents, no," he nickered, eying her markings once again and smirking slightly. "My father can, to some extent at least. That's what I'm told, any way."

Darroch tilted his head in a characteristic manner, his ears positioned rather goofily as they tilted out in his usual curious expression as he followed Ovela's gaze. Frolic had slunk off to the side and seemed to be glancing about at everyone, looking torn between crawling under a rock and taking a step forward. Her body shuddered as he watched and then she lifted her head, her expression still pained yet considerably brighter, as if she was now able to cope in some way.

"Yeah," he shrugged, tilting his head the other way thoughtfully. "She's going insane, but she's always pretty down, from what I've seen."

But Frolic wasn't what interested him.

"What do you usually do for fun?" he asked, hitting Ovela with his own barrage of questions as he stood up and shook off, finally able to trust in his own limbs once again. "Do you wander around a lot? Where have you been? Do you like to climb? Can you fly yet? Who do you have take care of you if you don't know your parents? Do ya like playing little tricks? What about puzzles?"

Fancy switched her tail tuft in irritation and made her movements all the more coy as this stallion who'd shown so much interest in her stopped cold turkey and turned away. She, too, focused her attentions elsewhere. Her gaze turned to the antlered stallion with the bells, but something about him forebade her toying with him in such a manner.

Filigreed ears twitched and brows furrowed in curiosity as she wondered at this phenomenon, and briefly her orbs flickered back to Coal, and she registered his attentions centering on the yellow mare. She nearly nickered in mirth, glad he'd found a distraction from his challenges and general introversion. With any luck the mare would see past his stony exterior and realize that he was not really one to judge others. He appeared to be a judge of the harshest kind, but she knew that was only for himself. He'd had a rough enough time of it all, though one wouldn't know it from glancing. He just needed to learn how to relax and have fun again.

Coal looked up to meet Fancy's eyes, shaking his head at her impish grin. She really was looking for someone, though she didn't know it herself yet. It'd take the right stallion to make her aware of that. He wondered why she didn't just give up on the silly games here and join the foals; then again the foals would be interrupted...

In the end Fancy followed Coal's gaze to the foals, and she decided that foal-watching was the perfect distraction. Their interaction intrigued her, each obviously showing off, yet there was an innocence about it all. No judgments or disapproval... She stayed unusually quiet; lost in her reverie. Every time her mind wandered back to Hybrid she just shook her mane and found something else to occupy her thoughts with. Stubborn much? She smirked at the thought and took pleasure in answering her own question. A bit.

Coal watched the mare - Gem he repeated to himself again. The looks she got from her companion made him aware that they were bond-mates, and perhaps intimately connected. The protective stance strongly seconded that notion. The unhidden surprise in his glances also made Coal aware that her talkativeness now wasn't exactly normal. He wondered what was drawing her out then. She did seem concerned about the green mare off in the distance. He recognized the aloofness of that one, and especially the challenge she was struggling with. Much like a challenge he fought with every single day. It seemed she was winning, though, as he eyed her raised head and brightened demeanor.

Sparing a glance toward the green scaled lightning fellow, his brows raised a hair as he thought briefly over the sudden attention change. He fancied Fancy, and he was toying with her just as she toyed with him. Smooshing the initial protective instinct, he decided she was a big girl. And if she were going to play such games, she darn well better be prepared to have them played back. Still, it couldn't hurt to keep an eye on the fellow. Once in a while. Now, however was the perfect time to keep an eye on someone else...

And there was a new fire in her eyes as she answered his query, a spark that he hadn't noticed before. Ears perked. Hybrid had an answer as well, however, so he heard him out. A slight puzzlement crept into his expression, dubious and intrigued at the same time. "How on earth do you get anything done? That must be so distracting, worrying over all of your surroundings all the time."

Fancy couldn't help but overhear. She looked highly amused, throwing a covert glance at this Gem to see what she thought of it all. "But you all must be very good at controlling your abilities, I imagine." Another glance at Rein, and a small one briefly aimed at Hybrid. At the lightning flickers she turned away again with a twitch of her wings. ""I've no experience with any elementals or rogues, personally. Seems to me you hardly worry over it at all, though." She nodded at Gem and the elementals present.

Avalanche hardly noticed anything else aside from Frolic. It was like watching a figure running from avalanching snow... the outlook was bleak, but he had faith she could do it. Even if she was overwhelmed, all was not lost. Barely restraining himself from going to her, he scolded himself that there was hardly anything he could do. Interfering was hardly his forte - he tended to avoid such pesky ideas as a general rule.

Finally he gave in, giving in to the pull he felt tugging him in her direction. No remark did he make to the others as he turned away, aside from a distracted "Excuse me." He didn't think they'd try to stop him. He approached slowly, giving her time to react and send him hiking if she so desired. He had no idea what he would do if he was able to get close to her, no real plan, but darn it all, he had to try. He was reluctant to speak for some reason, but he felt at least the beginnings of a greeting were necessary. "Hello." His tone indicated that no answer was necessary is she wanted to give none. Voice soft and crystalline, comforting rather than pitying. He closed the space carefully, oh so carefully, and moved next to her. He did not initiate any touching contact - he was literally too cool to initiate such a move, and did not wish to give her a chill - but he stood close, as thought silently supporting an old friend.

Coal watched with interest, envisioning Avalanche as her own overgrown ice pack. In a way he felt like snickering, and yet he couldn't allow himself to do so. Fancy shot him a glance, brows furrowed. "What's he..?" Coal shrugged and tilted his head just the slightest bit. "Your guess is as good as mine."

Last edited by Vineda on Sun May 30, 2010 3:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

And I don't know how To slow it down Oh, my mind's racing From chasing pirates.

((OOC: I apologize for taking so long to get back to you guys. Miss you two!))

Gem smiled apprehensively at Hybrid’s response. Regaining her social streak was going to take some time; none-the-less, she was still able to appreciate these Serians’ efforts to engage her. She had forgotten just how much she enjoyed the company of others. She had almost ceased to pick up on subtle nuances, such as the flirty undertone that was present between Hybrid and Fancy. Although it pained her to watch the two engage in these sorts of... mating games, she was almost finding it endurable when coupled with conversation. The buzz of the chatter had turned into a pleasant hum, versus the usual grating banter. That, paired with the assumed interest from the stallion, Coal, seemed to improve her mood, however marginally. She still felt cautious, aloof, although she attributed that to the large number of stallions. No matter how hard she tried, one of them was bound to remind her of Surf. She knew that. She just had to find the means of coping with such thoughts.

Rein shrugged, somewhat modestly, at Hybrid’s observation. He tried not to make comparisons based on his own abilities, but to him, these two elementals seemed infinitely more wild, more untamed, than him. Their talents were raw, more connected with the earth- it was a very physical sort of connection, something that Rein admired yet could not identify with. Rein’s abilities originated not from the earth, but the soul. Most of his capabilities, however ineffective they may seem to external parties, seemed to flow from the feelings and sentiments surrounding the season. Sure, there were other things he could do-mere changes, dabbling in decorations and lighting. But he felt as if the sources stemmed from different places entirely. Their elemental talents were not comparable- neither was superior or inferior to the other, just very different. But, seeing as how he found this slightly difficult to explain, he settled for the barest of explanations.

I’m still experimenting with such things, he said vaguely as he flicked his blond tail. His eyes flicked over Gem briefly before he added, the raw talent, as Gem pointed out, is more apparent in our rogues, Shimmer and Galaxy. Those two are quite adept, and they have the brute strength to boot.

He glanced over towards the foals and smiled, thoughtfully. He knew that Galaxy had met young Darroch previously. Idly, he wondered what the foal would make of the stallion now. Many of the attributes of the herd had rubbed off on the Rogue, and now that Shimmer was part of that herd, the stallion had transformed into something else entirely. He wasn’t sure what to make of it, personally, but then again he had not known the stallion all that long.

This gathering had him feeling slightly... misplaced. Gem had obviously found some means of entertaining herself, as had Ovela. There was just something that made him slightly uncomfortable. Whether it was the subtle pairings that had begun, or the way that Gem looked, ever so casually, at that other stallion... but no. He was not the jealous type, and he had no claim over the mare. Gem had fancied a number of stallions, up until her pairing with Surf. Vision even had numbered among them, and there was speculation that even Tatter had been fond of Gem before her bonding to Talia. The two did seem to have some history, after all...

Let her have her fun.

Quietly, he distanced himself from the mare, shifting a few paces away as he noted the speculative glances from the stallion in question. Did he fancy Gem then? Poor fellow.

Gem’s gaze flickered briefly over Rein’s as he shifted, his discomfort evident. He was a protective stallion. She adored the familial bonds that they shared, but they were exactly that. Not that she didn’t find Rein handsome; quite the opposite, but he was merely a brother, another companion. She had toyed with the thought initially. He was attentive, adorable. Always made her smile. And he was always there. He would never leave her, never run off. Never abandon her with thoughts of foals and happy stories. He was part of her herd- her brother. It just wasn’t right, and it never would be. And, as far as she had been able to tell, it didn’t concern either of them overly much. Her eyes slid over to Coal, and sparkled slightly with amusement as she noticed his brief glances towards Rein. Had he mistaken their relationship? Had she been more like her usual self she would have had fun with this, but she did not want to confuse Rein, nor did she want to unintentionally shun Coal. He didn’t seem like the type that enjoyed such things; she herself found little amusement in them anymore.

She grinned at Coal’s response before catching Fancy’s eye. She summoned some nonchalance before answering, although her crystalline eyes glittered with delight.

Some Serians are more adept at controlling their abilities than others, she said briefly, with a laugh. Galaxy’s much more chaotic, but he’s learning. To Shimmer, anything magical is old hat. And then there’s Rein. To be honest, I don’t watch my surroundings. I just accept the incidents and distractions and cope with them, one problem at a time. It does make it difficult to get much of anything done though, she added, as she nodded pointedly at Coal.

Rein couldn’t help but catch the brief glance that Fancy shot in his direction. She certainly had seemed interested in that Hybrid fellow earlier... wasn’t she? Mares. He frowned slightly as Gem poked fun at him- an expression that was entirely unwelcome on his usually sunny face. Gem noted his sour look and nipped his shoulder in a sisterly-fashion, grinning brightly at him.

Her gloomy exterior seems to be gone, for the moment, he mused. With his own impish spark he retaliated in turn, flicking Gem neatly across the rump with his tail.

Some mares simply can’t understand the intricacies of such things, he replied with faux arrogance, a smile plastered across his muzzle. He twitched his head slightly and the bells in his antlers rang merrily in response. He noted Avalanche’s departure with a puzzled expression. That one was a difficult stallion to figure out.

Gem mock-pouted at Rein before she replied to Fancy in kind. We hardly worry about it at all anymore. It’s second nature to our bond-group. With all the familial ties, it’s difficult not to run into such things. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t have the luck of seeing all of you at the party. There were far too many Serians there that I’m afraid I didn’t run into you that night. I would have been able to introduce you to the Rogues, at the very least.

Ovela wasn’t disconcerted by Darroch’s bold observation. She knew when to appreciate compliments, and she knew that the stallion had meant the comment merely as a declaration, rather than as something more. The implications of such things did not even occur to the little mare, as they were more adult than she could comprehend. Instead she shrugged; if anything, she was uncomfortable thinking about her biological parents.

I wish I knew which one I resembled more, she said with simplistic honesty. It was true- there were many times that she wished that she knew more of, or had met her parents. Then again though, there were many times that she wished she never would.

She mused over his next statement and smiled. You’re welcome. I’ve never seen an elemental work themselves up in such a manner. Then again though, all the elementals I know are much older. I’m sure that that won’t be a problem later on.

The little mare laughingly spluttered as the stream splashed her. She tossed Darroch a wicked smile before she stomped both of her forelegs into the stream, which subsequently tossed the water into the air, thoroughly drenching all nearby occupants. Through her soaked ruby forelock her eyes twinkled with mirth, as the newly created cloud cooled her drenched hide. She shivered, involuntarily, and shook out her coat, spraying Darroch yet again with a fine mist of water droplets. She was finding all of this exceedingly enjoyable-truth be told, she hadn’t met a lot of foals. She hadn’t even had the opportunity to do so at the party. This was all new to her, but she was enjoying it, and Darroch certainly made for interesting company.

She cocked her head curiously at his next statement. Her? Special? She hadn’t even had the luck of inheriting her parent’s elemental abilities. She knew that she was, by all standards, unique looking, but she had been surrounded by talented Serians since birth... certainly she wasn’t that special, by other Serians’ standards.

You think so? she asked, intrigued. You’re being far too polite. Aside from my apparently unique heritage, I’m pretty ordinary, she added with a smile and another toss of her fiery mane.

To Ovela, there was nothing distinctly wrong with ordinary. Ordinary just meant less talented. She admired the warriors and the elementals, those with physical strength and ability. She admired her “family” too, sure enough, but she aspired to be like the others, like Galaxy, and Shimmer and Rein. And she supposed like Darroch as well, but she knew now that she would have to carve her own place in the world based on who she was, not who she wanted to be.

That’s what you’re told? she asked, inquisitively. Surely he knew both of his parents. Or did he? She let her wingtips graze the surface of the water, watching the resulting ripples before glancing up to giggle at his silly expression. Darroch was far more fun than Rein, or Gem for that matter. The adults could be so dull sometimes.

She blinked rapidly at the bombardment of questions before laughing happily at the onslaught. She slapped her ruby tail against the water briefly contemplating her answers.

I explore, she said simply, when I’m allowed to at least. Father’s none too keen on me getting too far away from sight, so I have to be sneaky about it. There’s so much I have to see though! I try to wander as much as I can, but usually I have to go with someone. I hate that. I figure I’m old enough now to do my own exploring, she added, slightly petulant. I love to climb. It’s easier for foals, you know. Easier to get your hooves into crevices and tight places. And I wish I could fly. I can’t yet, not really. I’ve tried, but the most I can do is hover for a brief bit. What about you? Do you explore much, or climb? Can you fly? You have really neat wings, she stated, with a bright smile.

His one question stalled her slightly, and she paused before answering. Vision’s my dad. He takes care of me. I really don’t have a mum, although all the mares try to act like it. Gem or da’s mate, Frostbite, are the closest things to a mum that I know.

She moved on quickly and brightened visibly. Talking about her parents had always been difficult to explain. Not difficult in a painful sort of way, just... awkward.

I play little tricks all the time, she said with a conspiratorial wink. Dad’s not too fond of it, but he rarely gets mad at me. What about you? Tell me you drank the green beer at the party! Dad was terribly angry at me when I did. Do you know of any good puzzles or riddles?